Monthly Gamification Roundup

As we do every month, we’re bringing you the most interesting and insightful articles about gamification that we read this month. Gamification is really growing as an industry, so this month I thought I’d write an edition which demonstrates how gamification is being used in completely different fields. Let’s start.

The gamification of cyber security

“Gamification and cyber security? How is that a thing?” That’s exactly how I reacted when I came across this article. A competition which took place in London this month attempted to find the next best up and coming tech talents, to recruit to the fight against cyber threats. You might be imagining rows and rows of hackers sitting opposite bluish screens and poring over code and complex puzzles, but in reality they were actually all super focused on… games.

The Cyber Security Challenge UK, organized by experts from GCHQ, BT, Lockheed Martin and the National Crime Agency (NCA) is an annual event. Interestingly, organizers say that they believe the next generation of cyber security talent is likely to come from the gaming environment, which is why the challenge shifted from a set of simple tasks that could only be accessed at limited times, to a much more immersive gaming environment called the virtual skyscraper. This gamified environment tests technical curiosity, problem solving skills, competitiveness and desire for peer recognition, which are all important traits for a successful career in the cyber security industry.

Gamification in banking

Yep, another surprising industry. An article in firstpost.com speaks about how gamification is an important tool in the transition to the digital banking era. The article quotes research which indicates that interest in gamification in the banking industry is rapidly growing, and that the percentage of banks that are implementing some kind of gamification solution in their organization has gone up from single digits to somewhere in the 30’s.

A great example is a gamification solution used by BBVA. The game rewards usage of online services with medals, badges, and points that can be used to claim real world prizes. In essence, BBVA is using gamification to educate the market about a new solution, which will benefit the customers and offer them a much better experience once they get used to it. Another example is Rabobank, which has an internal gamification network for knowledge and idea sharing across the organization. Rabobank has also used gamification to encourage customers to complete their mortgage application documentation online.

Gamifying politics

You know how your grumpy uncle always says that politics is just a game? Well, yeah, he might have had a point. A local councilor from the city of Windsor in Ontario, wants to build a gamification app where citizens can digitally push levers and buttons, in order to move money around in a fun way. All this is meant to encourage people to take part in local democracy. The councilor said that he sees gamification as a way to increase citizen engagement, and that he can only see good coming from it.

The game would be able to show users the consequences of an unbalanced budget (rising taxes, for example). Local politicians are thinking that through the game, they might be able to get a glimpse of how users would react to tax increases and other changes in policy. You can read more about it here.

Gamification for marathon runners?

Milestone sports, a sports tech company announced the launch of a new gamification program for running event organizers. The program is meant to gamify the training process for running event participants. Through different wearable devices, participants can see how they are performing in comparison to other event participants on a host of parameters which are all aimed at improving the runners’ results. Participants get rewards for sticking to their training regiment, and the program will also identify areas that need improvement in their running style or form. These gamified features assist runners in reaching their goals and prevents them from getting injured. If you’re a runner, or just interested, you might want to give the whole article a look.

That’s all for November. If you’ve come across an interesting piece on gamification, we’re always interested to see if we missed something. Feel free to send us an email with the best gamification articles you came across!